WASHINGTON: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched a nonpartisan commission to address the various influences on the health industry. The commission was announced last Thursday in Washington DC, and its work is expected to carry into early 2009.

The commission, titled the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, will focus on a number of non-medical factors influencing our health, including why poor Americans experience substandard health, and how the health gaps affect US productivity and competitiveness.

Chandler ...